Teen finds Apple iPhone 5 under the tree, along with rules and conditions from his mom

0.phoneArena
31 Dec 2012, 13:07posted on

Greg Hoffman was as excited as any 13 year old boy would be to find an Apple iPhone under the tree for Christmas, but the joy of the moment faded a bit when he discovered an 18 point set of rules and restrictions that he had to agree to before keeping the phone; the rules did not come from the carrier or from Apple, but came from Hoffman's mother...

1st why the hell is this news? 2nd 13yr olds or younger TEENS don't NEED A SMART phone they don't have enough responsibilities. 3rd. just buy this kid a Ipod touch 5 Gen same features excluded the calling feature. 4th Their wasting their time and money and I don't think he will go with the rules cause he will WINE and cries bout not having his crappy iPhone all day long. Some people are either ignorant or just plan dumb giving their kids iPhones when they don't even need one. just buy them a feature phone or a QWERTY phone it's for kids or at least a pre paid phone.

A lot of wisdom in this agreement. However, a lot of comments here do not surprise me. Adults are often quite detached from their childhoods, and thus can no longer relate to the child's point of view. I received my first phone at age 11 (a basic phone), and my first smartphone at age 16. I don't even use Instagram or Twitter at all. I use Facebook selectively (I never post anything pointless or stupid). I use my phone to check things on the go when I don't want to wait (sports scores are a good example). Also, In case anyone was curious, I'm 18 years old.

TLDR: Adults need to give kids a chance. No matter how unruly they might be now, many of them will in fact be leaders in the future.

And you're even more of a "whack" parent for buying your six year old a phone, let alone a smartphone. What does she need data for, running a business? When is she going out on her own? Or somewhere that one of her parents isn't going with her? Just wow....

oh the irony of some adults, could you guys just imagine that your father or mother forbid you to do things on your own when actually you can or you want to try ? when they don't believe in you when you know you earn the responsibility ?

give everybody a chance first, apply the rules if they are irresponsible. yes there are kids who are irresponsible these days, but not all of them of course. so don't stereotypes every teenager. there are parents who could be much less irresponsible than their children anyway

i glanced through the first page of comments and not the 2nd but i noticed alot of people saying he should just save up some money and get his own phone....sure he could do that but then he would need to turn to his mom or dad and have them get it activated cause last i checked u had to be 18 in order to activate a cell phone....

It is the complete insult of that 13 year old.
it shows his mother did not trust him at all.
may he do not know about porn or any bad thing but by this conditions her mother is making him interested in those things.
and why would he want an iphone.
if her mother only wanted him receive phone call than a feature phone is enough for him....
its like the kid is served a delicious dish and his mother putting the conditions that he must not see and touch the food but he can eat

Parents of Gregory, I know you are doing everything to avoid technology to geopardize your son's well being and social relations to others in person but what you are doing is a waste of money. I understand what you want to happen. Why not give your son an iPhone 4 or 4S instead? They are almost the same and traditional rows and columns of apps. Do not give him exactly what he want if you have terms and conditions. I won't buy a smartphone if my parents were like that. A Blackberry Curve would suffice the rules of the parents so no money would be wasted.

Honestly, and a lot of people might think this makes me crazy, but as a 15 year old would almost consider following these rules. I never study enough and part of this is probably because I allow myself to become distracted. If my Gpa is to low for my first semester of my freshmen year, this would be one of the solutions I would consider.

Actually it is a good idea. I just think she spoiled it by giving him the contract on Xmas. She could of waited till the next. Rule 1 totally ruined it being a "gift." It's a Xmas loan in her words. Who gives a loan? He should be allowed to take the phone to school. Newtown...IJS

these rules are good and all, but it is a waste of a smartphone (which I'm sure most of us on phonearena hate to see that happen). she should've gotten her son an ipod touch and some keyboard feature phone.

There are a couple rules in this list that might be a little much, but as a whole, I applaud this mom's set of rules.

I was 15 years old before I got a phone. It was the free flip phone, no camera, no extra features, and I had to have a B+ average in order to keep it. If I got into any trouble, school or otherwise, it was gone.

I didn't get a smartphone until I was TWENTY YEARS OLD. And I worked for a cell phone store, for chrissakes. I paid my own bill, and used it mostly for work or personal email.

I'll tell you what - this kid may piss and moan about how the rules are unfair, but he's probably going to turn out to be a more functional and mature adult than anyone else in his class.

A week or so ago, I'm sitting in my kiosk watching three girls ages 9-12 looking at the cell phones we have on display. We are next to a Claire's accessory/jewelry store, and the girls start throwing a fit to their father for not buying them some $8 pair of earrings or something. All THREE of these kids had iPhone, the older two had $300 Coach purses, and the older two were entirely outfitted in A&F kids clothing. My coworker and I watched this go down with stunned looks on our faces.

Listen up, kiddos.

I started working at age 14 for pocket money to buy the things I wanted. I paid for texting, paid for the clothes I wanted that were "brand name" or expensive for my parent's budget. I wasn't given a car for my 16th birthday, and for graduation, I got $150 and dishes. I earned my car, paid it off, paid for repairs, paid for every cell phone that wasn't free with the plan, wore clothes from Styles for Less instead of Hollister, etc.

And now as a 23 year old woman, I am APPALLED at the behavior of the average teenager. Occasionally we get teens at my kiosk that aren't self entitled little a$$es, but they are the exception, and are always the ones whose parents tell them NO.

Kids don't stop to think how expensive it is for their parents to pay their way until they are 18. Food, clothing, dental work, braces, health care, school fees, that $349 "donation" for their middle school cheer camp or football uniform. And then you add on the iPhones, the insurance deductible when it's lost or broken or some other teen steals it from your backpack. The summer camp, the laptops, the shoes, allowance, and handing you 20 bucks every other week for the movies, bowling, etc. Not to mention how much food the average 15 year old boy eats.

I weep for the future of humanity when spoiled rotten little 12 year old brats throw tantrums like they're 5 years old and the parents give in or "ground" them instead of spanking them and sending them to their room. Nowadays it's politically incorrect to spank your kids, it might be considered "abuse". Screw that. The kids from today who are treated with kid gloves, given everything they want, and never told no are the future adult self entitled a$$holes. People like this mom are doing just fine.

She's banning him from doing all the things teen's do! She is afraid of him being brain-washed; she is brain-washing him into being perfect and un-human like. Why buy him an iPhone and then ban him from doing most of the things on it. The car and insurance thing is totally different. Cars can kill you, iPhones can't. Also, "Talk to a stranger"! Ok, strangers aren't all bad but you don't know what this person is like, it would be better for him to meet new people online that way they can't grab him and take him away or harm him. It's pretty odd, banning him from porn, having a phone is school, prank calling but she want's him to talk to strangers?

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